Why Nashville school shooting victims' families don't want the handwritten confession of killer Audrey Hale from ever being released

Grieving families of the Covenant Christian School shooter's six victims have claimed they own copyright of the full handwritten confession of the killer.

They are arguing before a Nashville judge that the confession, and other documents, should never be publicly released because no good can come from it. 

The families' claims comes as both city police and the FBI fight to stop the confession, and potentially information about mysterious notes and numbers found on Hale's body, from being made public. 

Audrey Hale, 28, was a transgender artist, who identified as a male named Aiden, shot her way into the Tennessee elementary school in March 2023, killing three adults and three nine-year-olds, before responding officers killed her.

Following the shooting, Nashville's Metropolitan Police Chief John Drake said his force had recovered the shooter's manifesto, as well as hand-drawn maps in her car, and said they would eventually be made public. 

Now, both cityi police and the FBI say the material shouldn't be released because the information could damage any potential  investigation.

Audrey Hale (pictured), 28, was a transgender artist, who identified as a male named Aiden, shot her way into the Tennessee elementary school last March, killing three adults and three nine-year-olds before responding officers killed her

Today, a Nashville judge will decide whether or not the families of the victims of the shooting will be able to assert a copyright claim over Hale's manifesto

Hale's manifesto has long been expected to reveal more detail about the killer's motive.

A Tennessee judge on Thursday will determine if Hale's estate can assert a posthumous copyright claim over the handwritten confession and stop the information from being released. 

When Hale was killed as a result of the mass shooting, her parents transferred control of her estate to the families of the victims.

The families have subsequently stepped in and become part of a public records lawsuit against the city.  They claim the killer's estate includes the manifesto and that they therefore own the copyright and can determine whether or not to release it.

According to Fox Digital, Doug Pierce - an attorney for the plaintiffs in the case against the city - said: 'You can't just assume there is a copyright interest on any particular writing.

'The only way they could get copyright protection established is if they would have to show the documents in federal court - in other words, they gotta let the cat out of the bag.

'Every day, the public is being denied the right of access,' he said, adding that Hale was clearly the only suspect and that there is 'obviously no pending investigation' that the release of the manifesto could potentially disrupt.

The families, on the other hand, argue that there is no good that can or will come from the release of the writings.

In a filing from last May, they referred to the materials as the 'dangerous and harmful writings of a mentally-damaged person.'

In their argument, they wrote: 'No one was more traumatized, or has suffered more, than the families of the victims and survivors of the Covenant school atrocity. No one. And no one can claim a remotely similar interest in whether the writings of the shooter be released,'

The copyright claim is an extension of their attempt to prevent the documents from becoming public.

Last November, three page of notes written by Hale ahead of the shooting were leaked.

The notes revealed Hale's plan to target 'white privileged cr***ers' and 'f****ts,' before turning the gun on herself.

Hale, pictured ahead of her transition into 'Aiden,' wrote extensively about her mindset and detailed plans to cause terror in a manifesto that has yet to be released 

Hale is shown inside the school, which she attended years before she returned to bring terror to its classrooms

In an entry on the day of the attack, Hale wrote: 'Today is the day. The day has finally come. I can't believe it's here. Don't know how I was able to get this far but here I am.

'I'm a little nervous but excited too, been excited for the past two weeks.'

She then declares, 'I'm ready ... I hope my victims aren't.'

'God let my wrath take over my anxiety. It might be 10 minutes tops. It might be 3-7. It's gonna go quick. I hope I have a high death count. Ready to die,' she wrote, before heading on her way toward Covenant.

She was ultimately shot dead at 10.25am, 14 minutes after she began shooting.

An autopsy revealed Hale's clothing was covered in 'handwritten words, drawings and numbers'. It's unclear what was written on her clothes.

The shooter also wrote a plastic orange anklet inscribed with the mysterious number '508407.' 

Following the leak, seven Nashville police officers were suspended after a probe into how the notes became public.